Legend has it that when the then 17-year-schoolboy Richard Lewis came across the cricket ball slogged out of St Helen’s by Garry Sobers for his sixth six off an over from Glamorgan’s Malcolm Nash, it was still rolling.

It’s only a guess, but had Shaun Edwards been skippering the home side that day he would have found a way of thwarting the great West Indian. Perhaps by asking one man to stand atop a team-mate’s shoulders at square leg — who knows?

For more than 11 years he has been in charge of the Wales rugby team’s defence, transforming it into one of the most formidable rearguards in the world.

Before he started, a generation of Welsh players were not exactly renowned for defiance under pressure on the Test stage.

Memories are still fresh of South African players running in touchdowns in Cardiff with no Welsh players within 15 metres of them.

Edwards changed all that, and quickly. In his first Six Nations with Wales, they conceded just two tries in 400 minutes of rugby. It was sensational stuff. They had a side that contained Shane Williams, James Hook and Gavin Henson, but the truly telling change from the year before was the steel Edwards had instilled into the defence.

He will be leaving the Wales coaching set-up after the World Cup. The uncertainty is over. The era of padlocked Welsh defences has only months to run. Some would have read the statement from the Welsh Rugby Union on Thursday morning, announcing Edwards’ departure, and felt a weird sense of apprehension.

Life will go on — of course it will.

The former Ospreys team boss Scott Johnson once informed the world: “My father used to say there’s 12 billion people lying in cemeteries who thought they were indispensable.”

No one is indispensable, and Edwards, being the grounded character that he is, would never think otherwise.

But he is a complete one-off who will be missed.

There are so many aspects to his character.

Abrasive, blunt, clever, defiant...an entire alphabet of adjectives could be used to describe him, with ‘L’ very definitely standing for loyal.

Cut to the Wales press conference after the dramatic World Cup semi-final defeat against France at Eden Park, Auckland, in 2011. Sam Warburton’s sending off dominates everything. As the Wales management leave the room, Edwards stops to tell journalists: “All I can say is I’m proud to work alongside Sam Warburton.”

Edwards expects a lot of his players, but he gives a lot back, too. When Warburton needed support during arguably the toughest hour of his rugby career, Edwards was there to give it to him.

Sam Warburton leaves the field after his shock red card in the 2011 semi-final against France (Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)

CHAMPAGNE SHAUN

For the media, his press conferences have always been worth attending because he says interesting things. Not for him throwing out praise like confetti. But when Edwards does come up with a compliment the recipient ought to be pleased because it means something to be lauded by a man who, like Warren Gatland, sets the bar high.

“Shaun is a very honest guy. He’ll tell you when you’ve messed up and he’ll praise you if you do well,” said Jamie Roberts recently.

“He has a ‘defender of the week’ award and he’d buy a bottle of champagne during Test matches for the guy who has impressed most in defence.

“He’s done that all the way through his time with Wales. I remember the 2013 Six Nations campaign where we didn’t concede a try for four games. I was defensive captain at the time and after the last game we’d beaten England 30-3 in an emotional game in Cardiff.

“He came up to me the morning after the game with a bottle of Dom Perignon and a photo of the both of us from the changing room from the day before. He’d signed it. It was an amazing thing to receive from a guy I had so much respect for. He didn’t have to do that, but he went out of his way.”

Any number of reporters have found themselves on the wrong end of a stare that could herd sheep at a thousand paces.

Memorably, one scribe once asked if Warren Gatland felt under pressure over claims that Wales had a poor record against leading southern hemisphere sides.

Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards (Image: Ben Evans/Huw Evans Agency)

The temperature in the room instantly became glacial.

Edwards said: "What do you mean 'under pressure'?

“Being a Test match rugby coach, every game has pressure. Being any sort of coach, every game has pressure. I don't understand what you mean. Do you mean do you think he is going to get sacked?

"If you coach Wigan Under-11s, you get pressure. You are a coach. Of course he is under pressure, everyone is under pressure. Every single game is a pressure game.

"If you are coaching a Sunday league team you are under pressure to win a game. I don't understand what you are trying to get at.

"What about if you win three Six Nations? Yes, it is a good answer. Next question."

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'LADS COULD BE TETCHY'

But, uncompromising though he is when his hackles are raised, Edwards has never seemed the type to hold grudges. He probably spoke without issues to the very same journalist the next day.

That said, there can be a wariness about this son of Wigan, a state of vigilance, almost. Tom Shanklin tells a story about the coach wearing running shoes to a pub. When asked why, he replied: “You never know when it’s going to kick off.” Indeed.

He is a man who, after retiring as a player, spent a summer working in a shelter for the homeless, run by the Sisters of Mercy.

"I used to help on the soup kitchens at night,” he has said. “Some of the lads could be a bit tetchy at times, so I think the sisters were pleased I was there. But enough has been made of it. Don't write too much about that..."

Whatever, it is all part of the rich Edwards tapestry.

Within three months of the former rugby league man starting as Wales defence coach, Ian Gough was climbing off the floor against Ireland in agony, having injured an arm. The lock needed treatment urgently but took his place in the defensive line, closing down space.

Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards celebrates the Grand Slam win over Ireland in the Six Nations

COMPLICATED

And there is something fitting about the final act of Wales’ defence in the Six Nations under Edwards.

They were leading 25-5 deep in injury time with the Grand Slam in the bag when Ireland’s Jack Carty attempted a conversion from in front of the posts. Led by Alun Wyn Jones, the Welsh players rushed at him, determined not to hand over points easily.

The assumption is Edwards instilled that mentality.

Had he been introduced to Davy Crockett early in 1836, history might have turned out differently.

A complicated character, for sure, but a man you’d always want on your side.

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